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Job Title: Head of Software Engineering, Sr. Director (hybrid- Monday- Thursday onsite )

Location: US-GA-Atlanta (Sandy Springs)

FLSA: Exempt

#LI-Hybrid

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Head of Software Engineering owns software engineering strategy and execution across Safe-Guard's core platform portfolio. You will lead a multi-team engineering organization that builds and operates the systems underpinning dealer enrollment, incentive programs, rating, quoting, and remitting workflows, claims adjudication, cancellations, payment processing, and direct-to-consumer product experiences. You will partner with Sales, Key Partner Management, Operations, and executive leadership to align engineering capacity and roadmaps with company strategy, and you will help champion Safe-Guard's vision of AI-native software development, operationalizing the use of Claude, Cursor, and similar LLMs and software tools across engineering teams.

Note: This role does not have responsibility for ERP / Financial Systems or Business Analytics / BI reporting platforms.

WHAT YOU WILL DO
Engineering Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing software engineering organization across multiple product domains, client-facing dealer and OEM platforms, internal operations systems, and direct-to-consumer applications.
• Own recruiting, hiring, and retention of top engineering talent; build career progression that reward technical excellence and leadership growth at every level.
• Establish and sustain a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous learning for engineers do their best work.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations; actively develop direct reports into future leaders.
• Partner with HR and Talent Acquisition to strengthen Safe-Guard's employer brand within the software engineering community.

Platform Ownership & Technical Strategy

• Own the engineering roadmap and outcomes for Safe-Guard's client-facing platforms (dealer enrollment, rating, quoting, contract remittance, incentive management, direct-to-consumer) and internal platforms (claims adjudication, cancellations, and payments).
• Define and help drive the technical architecture strategy, balancing modernization, and scalability, across a portfolio of applications serving automotive and insurance workflows.
• Partner with Sales, Product Management, and Operations to translate business objectives into executable technical roadmaps, ensuring alignment between engineering capacity and company priorities.
• Drive continuous improvement in system reliability, performance, and security; establish engineering standards for code quality, testing, observability, and incident response.
• Make sound architectural and build/buy/partner decisions, clearly communicating trade-offs to senior leadership and stakeholders.

AI-Native Culture & Platform Development

• Help champion Safe-Guard's AI vision by embedding AI-assisted development practices as standard practice across all engineering teams.
• In collaboration with technology leadership, help design and delivery of AI-native platform capabilities, including intelligent automation in claims adjudication, contract processing, rating workflows, and dealer-facing experiences.
• Build a team culture where engineers default to AI-first thinking: leveraging AI to accelerate development velocity, improve code quality, reduce operational work, and expand product capabilities.
• Stay current on AI tooling and agentic AI approaches; bring informed recommendations to the technology and product leadership on emerging capabilities applicable to Safe-Guard's platforms.
• Establish evaluation frameworks and responsible-use guidelines ensuring AI capabilities deployed in production meet Safe-Guard's quality, compliance, security, and reliability standards.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary engineering voice in executive and cross-functional forums; communicate technical strategy, progress, risks, and trade-offs clearly to both technical and business stakeholders.
• Partner with Operations, Compliance, and Legal teams to ensure platforms meet the regulatory requirements of automotive and insurance administration.
• Collaborate closely with our dealer network, OEM partners, and Key partner executive teams to incorporate external feedback into the platform roadmap.
• Drive alignment across peer technology leaders-Product, Architecture, Data, Security, and IT to deliver cohesive, integrated platform experiences.

Delivery Excellence & Operational Maturity

• Own end-to-end software delivery accountability ensuring teams execute with predictability, quality, and a consistent sense of urgency.
• Implement and refine delivery practices, release cadences, and engineering health metrics that give leadership clear visibility into team performance and platform health.
• Drive operational excellence: runbooks, post-incident reviews, and a culture of proactive reliability over reactive firefighting.
• Identify and remove organizational and technical blockers that impede team velocity.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING

Experience

• 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, including 7+ years leading engineering organizations of 70 or more engineers across multiple teams and domains including offshore contracting resources.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling AI-native engineering cultures to fundamentally transform how engineering teams design and build software.
• Hands-on experience building AI-powered production platforms; familiarity with LLMs, agentic AI architectures, and practical integration patterns for regulated business workflows.
• Direct experience with AI-assisted development tooling including Anthropic's Claude, Cursor, and similar LLMs and products at team or organizational scale.
• Proven track record in the automotive industry with direct experience working with dealer networks, OEM brands, or automotive F&I platforms strongly preferred.
• Meaningful experience in insurance or insurance-adjacent domains (policy administration, claims processing, coverage rating and quoting, or similar regulated workflows).
• Track record delivering complex, client-facing SaaS or platform products in a B2B environment where uptime, performance, and compliance are non-negotiable.

Technical & Domain Expertise

• Strong command of modern software architecture patterns: microservices, event-driven systems, API-first design, cloud-native infrastructure, and DevSecOps practices.
• Deep familiarity with the software development lifecycle: code quality standards, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, release management, and production observability.
• Understanding of the regulatory and compliance landscape relevant to automotive protection products, vehicle service contracts, and insurance product administration.
• Experience with payment processing platforms, financial transaction workflows, or claims administration systems is a strong advantage.

Leadership & Communication

• Exceptional ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable narratives for executive, business, and cross-functional audiences.
• Proven ability to build trust with internal and external customers operating as a credible technology partner, not just an internal function.
• High emotional intelligence; skilled at navigating organizational complexity, building consensus across competing priorities, and leading through change.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field required; advanced degree a plus. Equivalent experience will be considered.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

In your first 90 days, you will have built strong relationships with your engineering leads, Product partners, and key business stakeholders; completed a candid assessment of platform health, team capabilities, and delivery practices; and established your presence as a trusted, decisive leader within the Technology organization. Within 6-months, your teams will be operating with measurably improved delivery predictability, AI-assisted development will be embedded in daily engineering workflows, and you will have a clear roadmap for elevating AI-native capabilities across Safe-Guard's platform portfolio. At one year, Safe-Guard's engineering organization will reflect your leadership: higher engineering velocity, a stronger talent bench, AI-powered platform capabilities in production, and an engineering culture where the best people want to stay and grow.

BENEFITS

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA)
• 401(k) Plan with Company Match
• Company-Paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
• Company-Paid Life Insurance
• Paid Holidays and Vacation
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Wellness Programs
• Paid Community Service Opportunities
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Ongoing Training & Personal Development